Columbia’s Judith Arndt powered home to overall victory of the Giro della Toscana - Memorial Michela Fanini on Sunday after a trouble-free final stage.

The German star’s victory was the ideal ending to the 2008 season for Columbia’s women’s team, although various riders will go on to do the World Championships with their respective countries.

In Toscana, the team took no less than five stages as well as the overall and the prize for the first foreign rider - logically, this last one also going to Arndt.

“The last stage went perfectly.” team manager Petra Rossner commented.

 “There was a 13 rider break but none of them were dangerous overall, so Judith didn’t have to do anything and the rest of the  team did everything to bring her to the line.”

“The most dangerous rider overall in the break was five or six minutes back, so we kept things steady and under control.”

“It was a great team effort, we only had six riders by the end of the race, but that was enough to do the work we had to do.”

With the World Championships looming, Rossner admitted that riding the entire Giro della Toscana “may not be ideal for the World Championships time trial, but for the road-race, it’s the perfect distance.” Looking back at the 2008 season as a whole, Rossner described it as “unexpectedly good. We thought we’d do well, but it’s surprising to do so well.”

“We got 64 wins in 110 race days, that’s a remarkable total.”

“I think what’s made the difference is the way we work as a team. Individually we’re maybe not so much stronger than any other riders. But the chemistry in this squad, the way we interact and the conditions that we  can work in: they are all really something special. It brings us all up to another level.”